Opera Orlando’s production of The Secret River will be televised later this month. The production will air Sunday, January 30 at 4:30 p.m. on WUCF TV.

The Secret River is Opera Orlando’s first new commission based on the young adult book of the same name by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. A Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Ms. Rawlings was well known for her novel, The Yearling, and several other writings that chronicle her experiences living in and around Central Florida. Her young adult book, The Secret River, was published posthumously in 1955 and later received a Newbery Honor Book Award.

With a Pulitzer Prize and Grammy-winning libretto Marc Campbell and music by Stella Sung, Pegasus Professor at the University of Central Florida, The Secret River is set in central Florida during the Great Depression and follows the journey of Calpurnia, an intelligent young girl with a robust imagination then that she is looking for a secret river to help her. family and small town. This story for all ages demonstrates the power of trusting your imagination and the goodness in all of us. Orlando Opera favorite soprano Kyaunnee Richardson returns to sing the role of Calpurnia, with baritone Geoffrey Peterson and acclaimed soprano NaGuanda Nobles singing the roles of her father and mother and mezzo Kimberly Milton taking the role of Mother Albirtha. Metropolitan Opera soprano Emily Pulley rounds out the cast and makes her Orlando Opera debut as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.

The production will feature musicians from Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and the members of the Orlando Opera Youth Company under the baton of Everett McCorvey, founder and musical director of the American Spiritual Ensemble. The play will be conducted by Dennis Whitehead darling featuring puppets created and performed by Michelee puppets.